Finding Yourself on the Internet
The internet has been a fantastic tool that has allowed society to grow, connect, and collaborate with as many people as they could. It allowed us to find new hobbies and interests, while at the same time being able to learn information to an endless extent. At times, it seems like there are endless benefits to the internet. People have been able to discover more about themselves and truly mold themselves with the help of the internet. I mean, think about it, how many things did you discover because of the internet that are now a regular part of your life? We truly have been able to become who we are because of the internet. The internet has allowed us to find ourselves. However, the internet has also allowed people to find us, this one being in a more literal sense. Everything we do on the internet collects data on us. This can be small things like shopping habits or this can be very large things such as our home address. This data can then be compiled, bought, and shared by whoever. Once it is shared, it becomes public information for anyone who knows how to find it. We have all googled our own name just to see what comes up, and the fact that something came up used to always be a cool thing to see. Now, when you see just how much information can come up about you, it becomes frightening. For example, googling my name and address, you can find out who my parents are, who my relatives are, my home address, and even my birthday. Most of these things I have never put on a public site, yet the information is still there. To sum up everything I just said: The internet has taken away all of our privacy. We used to believe that privacy and the internet could coexist. Some people still do, and companies do a fantastic job of making us think that it does. But in all honesty, it doesn’t, and I don’t think it can. The internet has evolved in a way that I don’t think was ever anticipated and part of this evolution was to collect user data at every possible turn. Those things that we found on the internet that helped us mold our character? All of those are documented, stored, and put together as part of our social profile. This effectively eliminated all privacy. Nothing that we do is actually just kept to us anyone, and that should truly scare you. For privacy to exist on the internet, major changes would need to happen in a number of different areas, and the internet would have to evolve in a way that almost made it seem like it was going backwards. I just don’t believe that will happen, ever. When you truly sit and think about the internet, the more and more concerns you should have about it. The tool that once seemed like it would change the world for the better, that had endless benefits, seems more likely to make the world worse and be filled with harm.
